As the name suggests, the Michelin Power Time Trial serves only one purpose: shaving those last few seconds off the clock to gain an edge on the competition. This means the Power Time Trial was built for speed first and foremost. Puncture resistance and durability aren't the most important design criteria for a tire like the Power Time Trial.

The Power Time Trial looks very similar to the Power Competition (read our review) that has been available since 2016 as both use the same 3x180 TPI casing. The main difference between the Power Time Trial and Power Competition is that the Power Time Trial is thinner, lighter, and less puncture resistant. This is achieved by omitting the anti-puncture strip and also applying a thinner layer of rubber to the tire.

The rubber compound also received an update and is now called the "Race-2 compound" while the Power Competition uses the "Race compound". This compound change probably shaved another bit of rolling resistance off the total rolling resistance.

If you're looking for one of the fastest road bike tires out there, the Power Time Trial definitely should be on your list. Read on to find out more about how this tire performs in our tests.

Conclusion

The Michelin Power Time Trial is now the fastest tube-type road bike tire on the market. With the 100 grams butyl tube we use for our "standard" test protocol, it's just a bit slower than the fastest tubeless tires. As expected, puncture resistance isn't very high but still acceptable as most similar tires built for speed score the same 8 points in this test.

We also tested the Power Time Trial with a latex tube to see if it could come close to the fastest tubeless tires. The Power Time Trial with a latex tube shows us rolling resistance is the same as the ultra-fast tubeless Vittoria Corsa Speed G+ 2.0 at high air pressures. Only at very low air pressures, the tubeless Corsa Speed is a bit faster. If you're still using inner tubes and looking for the fastest tires, the Power Time Trial with latex inner tubes is what you should be looking for.